Human Centric Innovation in action – with Fujitsu and Sizwe bringing together people, information and infrastructure to help young people secure a better future

Munich, August 28, 2018
– Fujitsu is helping local and rural communities in South Africa to secure a better future for their children by working with SELECT Partner Sizwe Africa IT Group to provide self-sufficient classrooms equipped with Fujitsu technology. Each unit, built into a shipping container, is solar powered and features 27 seats, each with a Fujitsu FUTRO thin client and display, with educational content1 delivered to learners via a Fujitsu PRIMERGY RX2530 server.

In South Africa, there are few schools or education opportunities in remote rural areas, which means that a large percentage of children who start at Grade 1 face enormous challenges in reaching their Grade 12 national senior certificate. To enable the South African Department of Education to bring learning to these communities, Fujitsu and Sizwe Africa IT Group designed the “Edu-Smart Green Center”. This is a secure, state-of-the-art computer-driven classroom facility that is flexible, scalable and fully self-sufficient. The classroom can be built, delivered and fully functional within just 10 weeks, eliminating significant delays in comparison to building with brick and mortar. Approvals for such projects are also significantly easier to obtain than for a permanent structure.

Each eco-friendly classroom is equipped with nine rows of desks to accommodate up to 27 learners and one educator. Students sit in front of dedicated Fujitsu displays using Fujitsu FUTRO2 thin clients, while the educator has an intelligent interactive whiteboard touchscreen to complement additional learning materials. Content is stored locally and delivered via a Fujitsu PRIMERGY RX2530 M43 server located in a secure cabinet inside the container. Despite their streamlined footprint, the thin clients and server are highly robust and designed to withstand a wide temperature range, ensuring reliable operation even in very hot environments.

Steven Kramer, Channel and Marketing Manager at Fujitsu South Africa, comments: “Our Human Centric Innovation philosophy is focused on bringing together people, information and infrastructure to create real value for individuals and society as a whole. This project, jointly driven by Fujitsu and Sizwe Africa IT Group, truly embodies our ambition. Through the intelligent application of technology, we are making a positive contribution to every community that is reached by the classrooms. Extending digital learning to these young people gives them previously unthinkable opportunities to secure a better future through education.”

Jos Matthysen, Executive Managed Services at Sizwe Africa IT Group, adds: “We are committed to improving the opportunities for school-age children in South Africa by providing local and rural areas with access to education. Our self-sufficient classrooms bring interactive content to learners and can be used with or without a teacher or text books. By providing these educational opportunities, we aim to secure a better future for these communities and to improve our country’s education, social and economic growth.”

While the digital classrooms have internet connectivity, they are designed to run without web access, since mobile network connectivity is patchy or non-existent in remote areas and many rural communities do not have any internet access. This also eliminates the cost of mobile data, since all core content – including lesson modules, assessment data and reports – is available locally on the server. The entire units are powered by solar panels located on the roof and have battery back-ups

Notes to editors11Content supplements and supports the Curriculum Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS) certified by the South African Government, encompassing National Senior Certificate (NSC) and The Independent Examination Board (IEB).
2FUTRO Thin Clients are optimized for server-based computing, Virtual Desktop Infrastructures (VDI) and cloud-based application scenarios. Designed to ensure performance, security and manageability, they save costs and streamline IT operations. FUTRO Thin Clients also help deliver a lower TCO due to their longer product life cycle in comparison to standard PCs. A small footprint combined with a fanless design ensures quiet operation and ergonomics for maximum user comfort.
3The FUJITSU Server PRIMERGY RX2530 M4 is a dual-socket rack server that provides high performance via the new Intel® Xeon® Processor Scalable Family CPUs, expandability of up to 3TB of DDR4 memory, and up to 10x 2.5-inch storage devices – all in a 1U space saving housing.

About Fujitsu

Fujitsu is the leading Japanese information and communication technology (ICT) company, offering a full range of technology products, solutions, and services. Approximately 140,000 Fujitsu people support customers in more than 100 countries. We use our experience and the power of ICT to shape the future of society with our customers. Fujitsu Limited (TSE: 6702) reported consolidated revenues of 4.1 trillion yen (US $39 billion) for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2018. For more information, please see http://www.fujitsu.com.

About Fujitsu EMEIA

Fujitsu promotes a Human Centric Intelligent Society, in which innovation is driven by the integration of people, information and infrastructure. In the Europe, Middle East, India and Africa region (EMEIA), our 27,000-strong workforce is committed to Digital Co-creation, blending business expertise with digital technology and creating new value with ecosystem partners and customers. We enable our customers to digitally transform with connected technology services, focused on Artificial Intelligence, the Internet of Things, and Cloud - all underpinned by Security. For more information, please visit http://www.fujitsu.com/fts/about/

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